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Thursday, December 06, 2012

'Campaign to End Overincarceration' issues 2012 retrospective

I first met Vanita Gupta when she was one of the lead litigators in the Tulia drug sting cases on behalf of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and today she's operating the "Campaign to End Overincarceration" on behalf of the national ACLU. She just sent out an "2012 Year in Review" summary on behalf of that campaign which included so much interesting information about national developments I thought I'd republish it in full below the jump.

2012: Year in Review

Dear Friends,

We
made a lot of progress in 2012 in the fight to end overincarceration,
as voters and lawmakers alike demonstrated that America may finally be
waking up from its destructive and costly ”tough on crime” stupor. Some
of the most dramatic examples of this shift in public opinion were the
marijuana policy wins in Washington and Colorado, which showed that
sensible drug law reform is not only necessary, but achievable.
Connecticut abolished capital punishment and although California voters
disappointingly rejected this year’s proposal to replace the death
penalty with life without parole, public opinion there is unquestionably
shifting in the right direction.

Throughout the
year, the ACLU was in legislatures across the country promoting smart
criminal justice reforms aimed at safely reducing jail and prison
populations and dismantling the devastating and ultimately ineffective
war on drugs. We were in court fighting abusive police practices and
inhumane prison and jail conditions. And we have been relentless in our
efforts to end America’s attachment to its cruel and racially
discriminatory capital punishment system.

All of
these efforts bode well for the fight against overincarceration and
overly punitive sentencing, but we must remain vigilant. The truth is
that while the nation is finally beginning to reckon with its addiction
to incarceration, it is going to take a lot more work and political will
to advance the kinds of reforms necessary to achieve a just and fair
criminal justice system. Broad-based, strategic coalitions are required
to create sustained demand for true systemic reform. We look forward to
working with all of you to get the job done in 2013 and beyond.

Happy Holidays, Vanita Gupta

The following is a roundup of highlights from 2012. Click on the links below to jump to specific topics:

Voters in Colorado and Washington Legalize Marijuana:
Voters in Colorado and Washington made history on Election Day, when
they chose to legalize small quantities of marijuana for adults. Arrests
for possession of small amounts of marijuanahave damaged
civil liberties in many ways—eroding protections against searches and
seizures, putting large numbers of non-violent individuals behind bars,
and targeting people of color. Alison Holcomb, Campaign Director for New Approach Washington,
has returned to her position as Drug Policy Director at the ACLU of
Washington, where she is working on implementing the new law. You can
read more about the ACLU’s support of the state measures in our blog post.“Our
state’s unfair and ineffective marijuana laws have damaged civil
liberties in many ways – eroding protections against searches and
seizures, putting large numbers of non-violent individuals behind bars,
and targeting people of color.”

Additionally:

·Michigan voters in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Flint chose to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

·California: By a wide margin, voters in California approved Proposition 36, which limits the state’s 3 Strikes Law by removing the possibility of a life sentence for most nonviolent third strikes.

·Delaware passed SB 226,
which institutionalizes the use of evidence-based practices, including
use of risk assessment instruments, in decisions concerning bail,
rehabilitation and probation supervision.

·Georgia expanded alternative courts and reformed sentencing and probation with HB 1176. The ACLU submitted a letter to the governor in support of the bill.

·Hawaii passed HB 2515 and SB 2776 to expand the use of probation, risk assessments, and community-based treatment programs. The ACLU testified in support of the bills.

·Louisiana passed the ACLU-sponsored HB 543, which allows prisoners sentenced to life in prison for nonviolent crimes to appear before a parole board; HB 1026, which allows low-risk repeat offenders to appear before a parole board after serving one-third of their sentences; and HB 1068, which allows prosecutors to offer less than the mandatory minimum sentence for some offenses.

·Maryland passed a pair of ACLU-supported bills. SB 691 grantsgood time credit to people on parole that will reduce prison populations and increase public safety, and HB 261/SB 422
codifies the right to an attorney at bail review and requires a
citation for certain minor offenses, including marijuana possession. The
ACLU also testified in favor of HB 350/SB 214, which reduces the penalty for marijuana possession.

·Massachusetts passed broad sentencing and parole reform in Ch. 192. The ACLU fought hard to expand the good pieces of the bill and oppose the scope of the penalty for third offenses.

·Missouri passed parole reform in HB 1525 and reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine from an abysmal 75-to-1 to 5-to-1 with SB 732, after years of advocacy and groundwork by the Sentencing Project, the ACLU, and other organizations.

·Washington implemented LEAD,
a first-of-its-kind program that diverts individuals charged with
low-level offenses into community-based services, such as drug
treatment, immediately after arrest and before booking. The ACLU is
helping direct policy for the program.

·For more on the significant criminal justice reform during the 2012 legislative sessions, read the ACLU’s roundup blog from June.

2012 ACLU Reports on Criminal Justice Reform:

·At America’s Expense: The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly: Elderly
prisoners are twice as expensive to incarcerate as the average prisoner
and pose little danger to society, yet the population of elderly
prisoners in the United States is exploding. Our extreme sentencing
policies and a growing number of life sentences have effectively turned
many of our correctional facilities into veritable nursing homes — and
taxpayers are paying for it. Download the report and view and share a striking slideshow of photos by Tim Gruber and our video, “Elderly in Prison”. For more, read the ACLU’s press release.

·Public Safety Realignment: California at a Crossroads: In
March, the ACLU published an extensive, in-depth analysis of
California’s criminal justice system and the implications of the state’s
massive transfer of prisoners from state prisons to county jails. Read
the report here.

·California Prison Realignment One-Year Anniversary: An ACLU Assessment:
One year after the implementation of California's prison realignment
plan, the state has failed to adopt the kinds of reforms necessary to
ensure its success and a lasting reduction both in the number of people
behind bars and recidivism rates. Read the report here.

·Trial and Error: A Comprehensive Study of Prosecutorial Conduct in New Jersey: Of
the 343 New Jersey prosecutors accused of error between 2005 and 2011 –
including the 30 prosecutors who were found to have committed multiple
errors – not one received discipline for in-court behavior. Read the
report here.

Criminal Justice Reform in the U.S. Supreme Court

Dorsey v. U.S. and Hill v. U.S.:
The Court ruled that the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the
disparity in federal sentencing between crack and powder cocaine,
applies to people whose offenses predate the law but who were sentenced
after its passage. Learn more from this blog post, the opinion, and the ACLU’s amicus brief.

Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs: The Court ruled that mandatory juvenile life sentences without parole are unconstitutional. Learn more from this blog post and the opinion.

Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye: The Supreme Court ruled
that defendants have a right to effective counsel during plea
bargaining, and that violations cannot be cured by a later fair trial or
plea. The ACLU joined an amicus brief submitted by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

Advancing Humane Treatment of Detainees and Prisoners

Mississippi Bans Solitary Confinement of Juveniles: A lawsuit brought by the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center resulted in a groundbreaking consent decree
in March, which bans solitary confinement for kids convicted as
adults. The decision was also an indictment of private prisons: the
decree will require juveniles to be transferred out of a hyper-violent
GEO Group-run facility.

Massachusetts Court Orders Greater Protections for Prisoners in Solitary Confinement: In November, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled
that placing a prisoner in solitary without due process for over 90
days is unlawful, and ordered the Department of Corrections to put into
place regulations to prevent such confinements in the future. The ACLU
submitted an amicus brief in the case.

Alabama’s Segregation of HIV Prisoners Stands Trial: On September 17 in Montgomery, Alabama, trial began in Henderson v. Thomas,
the ACLU’s challenge to Alabama’s enforced segregation of, and
discrimination against, prisoners with HIV. HIV-positive prisoners are
segregated from other prisoners, required to wear white armbands to
disclose their HIV status, and barred from a host of rehabilitative
services and programs that are offered to similarly-situated prisoners
who do not have HIV. The ACLU contends that these discriminatory
policies and practices violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.A decision is expected before Christmas. Read the Birmingham News’s takeon the case and a blog post by one of our clients.

ACLU Challenges Arizona’s Prison Health Care and Use of Solitary Confinement in Federal Court:
In March 2012, the ACLU filed a statewide lawsuit challenging the
Arizona Department of Corrections’ use of long-term solitary confinement
and its failure to provide minimally adequate medical, mental health,
and dental care to its 34,000 prisoners. Prisoners known to be seriously
mentally ill are held in conditions of extreme social isolation and
sensory deprivation, often causing catastrophic psychiatric harm.
Chronic shortages of health care staff mean that desperately sick
prisoners are told to “be patient” or “pray” to be cured. In October
2012, the court denied the State’s motion to dismiss the case, and in
November 2012, we filed our motion to certify the case as a class
action. You can read more about the suit here.

L.A. County Should Close Largest Jail, End Deputy Violence: In April, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca endorsedanACLU-commissioned reportcalling for the closure of the notorious Men’s Central Jail by the end of 2013. Then in October, he announced that he intends to end deputy-on-inmate violence by implementing all 63 recommendations from a report
by the Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence. Sheriff Baca intends to
hire an outside custody expert to run the jails, make major changes
concerning the use of force, and establish a civilian commission with
power to conduct investigations in the jails. The announcement also
comes on the heels of a new report
from the ACLU and the law firm Paul Hastings LLP that reveals how often
L.A. County deputies strike inmates in the head with closed fists and
blunt objects like flashlights, or slam inmates’ heads into concrete
walls. As court-appointed monitors of the L.A. County Jails since 1985,
the ACLU has documented an ongoing pattern of deputy-on-inmate violence
in the jails that dates back many years, although Sheriff Baca only acknowledged the problem last year following mounting pressure from the ACLU and others. Watch local news coverage of the ACLU’s latest report, and visit our L.A. County Jails page to learn more.

The Senate Hosts its First-Ever Hearing on Solitary Confinement: In June, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee heard moving testimony
from Anthony Graves, a death-row exoneree who spent years in solitary
confinement. The subcommittee also heard from Mississippi Department of
Corrections CommissionerChristopher Epps, who reduced prison violence and cut his budget by millions by steeply cutting back on solitary confinement.

ACLU
Supports the “Expose and Close” Campaign to Shut Down Ten Immigration
Detention Facilities Considered the Worst in the Nation: The
Obama Administration’s average daily immigrant detainee population is
34,000 – the highest in history. Many of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement’s (ICE’s) detention reform projects have fallen short due to
various obstacles, despite tremendous efforts by the ICE Office of
Detention Policy and Planning. Meanwhile, some one million people have
languished in substandard, inhumane detention conditions. In some
facilities, detainees have died, or have been denied medical care,
outdoor recreation, and contact family visits. The ACLU and other
members of the Detention Watch Network have identified 10
facilities considered to be the worst in the nation. We strongly urge
that DHS immediately stop detaining people at these ten facilities:
Etowah County Detention Center (AL), Pinal County Jail (AZ), Houston
Processing Center (TX), Polk County Jail (TX), Stewart Detention Center
(GA), Irwin County Detention Center (GA), Hudson County Jail (NJ), Theo
Lacy Jail (CA), Tri-County Jail (IL), and Baker County Jail (FL).

2012 ACLU Reports on Prison Conditions:

·Growing Up Locked Down: Kids
should never be held in adult facilities, but when they are, they
should be held in separate areas with other kids, and never locked in
solitary confinement. That’s the recommendation of a report
from the ACLU and Human Rights Watch that examines the solitary
confinement of youth in facilities across the nation. The report is
based on interviews and correspondence with more than 125 young people
in 19 states who spent time in solitary confinement while under age 18,
as well as with jail and/or prison officials in 10 states. Watch a Senate congressional briefing about the report, along with a video, podcast and multimedia presentation available here. To learn more, read coverage from NPR and the AP, and this blog post by the report’s author.

·Boxed In: The True Cost of Extreme Isolation in New York's Prisons:
New York’s solitary confinement practices are arbitrary and
unjustified, extremely harmful, and very expensive. Read the report here.

NYCLU Takes on Stop-and-Frisk: In May 2012, the NYCLU and NYPD reached a successful settlement
under which NYPD officers have been instructed not to question, frisk,
search or demand identification from livery cab passengers unless the
officer has independent suspicion of criminal behavior. And in March,
the NYCLU, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and The Bronx Defenders filed a federal
class-action lawsuit challenging the NYPD’s Operation Clean Halls
program, a part of the department’s stop-and-frisk program that allows
police officers to patrol thousands of private apartment buildings
across New York City. Read more about the NYCLU’s broad and vocal
campaign against stop-and-frisk here.

Newark Police Settlement Affirms Citizens' Rights to Videotape Officers on Duty: In November, the Newark PD and the ACLU reached a successful settlement
in the case of Khaliah Fitchette, a Newark teenager who was illegally
detained by police for using her cellphone to record an incident on a
public bus in March 2010. The Newark PD agreed to make clear to its
officers through training that they cannot confiscate, delete, or demand
to view a citizen's photos or video without a warrant.

Settlement Ends Asset Forfeiture Abuse and Rampant Racial Profiling in East Texas County: In August, the ACLU successfully settled
a class-action suit against officials in Tenaha and Shelby Counties,
Texas, where it is estimated police seized $3 million from individuals
during at least 140 traffic stops between 2006 and 2008. Almost all of
the stops involved Black and Latino drivers, none of the plaintiffs in the case were ever arrested or charged with a crime,
and the seized assets were used to enrich the defendants’ offices and
themselves. According to the consent decree that has been submitted to
the court for approval, new rules will prevent these abuses from
happening again.

Fourth Circuit Rejects Warrantless Collection of DNA Evidence from Arrested Persons: The April, the 4th
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of ACLU client Alonzo King,
holding that it was unconstitutional for Maryland police to take a
sample of King’s DNA without probable cause or individualized suspicion.
The decision is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, and you can read the 4th Circuit’s opinion here.

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Stands Trial for Racial Profiling: The trial in the ACLU’s lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio ended in August,
and we are awaiting a ruling. The lawsuit charged that Sheriff Arpaio
and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have unlawfully instituted a
pattern and practice of targeting Latino drivers and passengers in
Maricopa County during traffic stops. Learn more about the trial and the
case here.

·NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Activity in 2011:
Beyond quarterly paper reports, the NYPD maintains a computerized
database of its stop-and-frisk program. Having successfully sued the
NYPD to obtain the database, the NYCLU is able to provide a much more
detailed picture of the stop-and-frisk program than is provided by the
NYPD’s quarterly reports. Read the NYCLU report to find out what happened in 2011.

Working to End the Death Penalty

Connecticut Repeals the Death Penalty: When Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed legislation to repeal the death penalty on April 25, Connecticut became the 17th in the nation to do so. The ACLU helped harness the support of a wide coalition to support this bill, including murder victims’ families, law enforcement, and ACLU members.

First Racial Justice Act Litigation is a Success: In April, a state judge commuted ACLU client Marcus Robinson’s sentence
from death to life without parole in light of powerful statistical
evidence of racial bias in North Carolina jury selection. Read more
about the case here, including the final opinion with detailed findings of racial bias in capital cases in North Carolina. Read more about the Racial Justice Act here.

Damon Thibodeaux Exonerated after 15 Years on Louisiana’s Death Row:
On September 28, ACLU client Damon Thibodeaux was exonerated for a
murder he did not commit and freed from Louisiana’s death row, where he
spent the last 15 years. Mr. Thibodeaux’s case, which rested in large
part on a false confession, is a tragic example of why the ACLU has long
called for police to videotape all interrogations. Learn more about Mr.
Thibodeaux’s case by reading this blog post
from ACLU Capital Punishment Project director Denny LeBoeuf, who has
represented Mr. Thibodeaux since 1998, and coverage from the AP and CNN. In addition, you can read Denny’s op-ed in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the “reply” op-ed from a conservative columnist – agreeing that it is time to abolish the death penalty.

California Voters Move More Than Twenty Points Toward Support of Repeal:
We were disappointed that California voters rejected Prop 34, which
would have replaced the death penalty in that state with life without
parole. But there’s a silver lining: 47% of voters approved the measure,
which is a major improvement in public opinion from 1978, when more
than 70% of Californians voted to reinstate the death penalty. Natasha
Minsker, Campaign Manager of Yes on 34, has returned to the ACLU of
Northern California as its Death Penalty Policy Director. For more, read
a blog post we wrote before the election.

Fighting Prison Privatization

Fighting Private Prisons in the States:

·Florida: The efforts of the ACLU and other private prisons opponents were rewarded when the state senate voted 21-19 against
a bill to privatize every prison in southern Florida. The ACLU also
helped defeat plans to build a private immigration detention center, in
part with this op-ed from former ACLU attorney David Shapiro.

·Idaho: The ACLU sent a letter
in November to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) detailing
its concerns about safety at the Idaho Correctional Center south of
Boise. CCA appears to be violating a settlement reached with prisoners
over violence at the CCA-run prison.

·Illinois: Plans to build a private immigration detention center were shut down after pressure from the ACLU and other groups.

·Maine: The ACLU testified against a bill designed to facilitate the creation and use of private prisons, and was pleased to see the bill fail.

·Ohio: In September, officials decided not to seek further privatization of state prisons. The decision came after vocal criticism of potential privatization by the ACLU and other groups.

The ACLU Takes on Corrections Corporation of America: In February, CCA sent a letter
in to 48 state governors offering to buy state-run prisons on the
condition that those prisons remain full for 20 years. The ACLU and 26
other organizations, including faith groups, sent letters to those governors urging them to decline CCA’s offer. USA Today ran two articles examining the ethical concerns raised by the proposal. Read them here and here.
To our knowledge, no governors took up CCA’s offer. We also challenged
CCA to debate the merits of prison privatization, and although they shrank from that challengein 2012, the invitation remains open in 2013.

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